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The 10 Grave Precepts #1 not killing…

These two simple words “not killing” provide us with ample opportunity to think about their meaning and their purpose as we work on Grave Precept #1. There is no measure long enough to take us to the end of the ideas that have been written on this subject. Throughout antiquity all religions and philosophies have grappled with it. But that will not stop us from embarking on this challenge for a week and seeing where it leads us.

Of course, we do not want to kill anyone or anything—that is a given. But how does “not killing” work when we kill bugs in the house or the garden. How does it work when we take the weeds from that same garden? Does the precept cover killing people with our angry and hateful words and leaving them feeling as though they have been “sliced into bits” by our tongue? Have your thoughts about yourself killed your ambition, your love for another, your attitude about life? Does that violate the precept of “not killing”?

Some take on a life of vegetarianism because of this precept. However, there are many sides to this precept of which we may not be aware. “The Buddha did not prescribe vegetarianism. Buddhist monks are permitted to eat meat, for example, if it is put in their alms bowl by a lay supporter. They are not permitted, however, to eat an animal that has been killed on their behalf.[1] For some this may sound like splitting hairs, that’s for sure, but it is true.

So, to help us out let’s go to our wonderful teacher Robert Aitken’s book, The Mind of Clover Essays in Zen Buddhist Ethics (1984), and let’s see the light that he sheds on this subject.

There are three elements that the Zen teacher uses in conveying the precepts: the literal, the compassionate, and the essential, or, as they are more technically termed: the Hinayana, the Mahayana, and the Buddha-nature views.

The Hinayana view of “Not Killing” is just that. The extreme limit of such literal interpretation is not Buddhist at all, but the Jain faith, whose monks filter all water before drinking it, in order to protect the microscopic animals that might otherwise be swallowed (page16).[2]

So it seems that the Jain faith’s influence on Buddhism took them to a very extreme “literal” interpretation of this precept. So how about the “compassionate” view of this subject? What would that look like? Is it compassionate to kill, let’s say, ants when they are taking over your kitchen?

Some years ago I went to see a monk from the Self-realization Fellowship speak in Miami. He was a student of Paramahansa Yogananda and during his talk he took questions from the audience and so, of course, someone asked about the idea of “not killing.” He shared a story with us about going down early one morning to prepare breakfast for the monks and all over the counter were ants. So he chanted and he prayed and nothing worked. He did not want to prepare the food and get ants into it so he said his last resort was the ant spray. He illustrated what he did by making believe he had a large can of ant spray in his hand spraying it across the counter as he chanted: Ohm, ohm—You are now going to your next level of higher consciousness—ohm …ohm. Everyone laughed and we all got the point. He went beyond the literal interpretation and somewhere between the compassionate (for the monks) and an essential teaching of Buddha and eating meat if offered as an Alm.

Where will you take your thoughts and practice this week on the idea of “not killing”? For some you may want to focus some time on not killing your own motivation and self-esteem, others may want to be careful of their words and actions that may be directed toward others that kills their love and affection, some may want to focus on food, and yet others may want to concentrate on working with groups that focus on getting rid of the death penalty or stopping wars and the like. But whatever you choose be aware of what you say, do, and think on all three levels: literal, compassionate, and essential. Keep asking yourself, “What would the Buddha say or do in this situation?”

And may the “force” be with you on your path of “not killing”!

Things to focus on this week:

Step one: Begin by deciding which area of “not killing” you will focus on first.

Step two: Set your intention to practice that one throughout the day/week.

Step three: Remember to be mindful of it by writing it on a 3×5 notecard, or by putting it in your smartphone and having it remind you throughout the day.

Step four: Remind yourself to listen to your thoughts and observe your behaviors to see if you are practicing the principle of “not killing.”

Step five: Finally, keep a journal on the precept of “not killing” and make note of how learning to embody it in thoughts, words, and actions is affecting your life. Good luck with that!